Modern medicines have revolutionized disease prevention and treatment, but the chemicals they contain are now posing a growing threat to ecosystems around the world. Discover how pharmaceuticals are harming fish and other animals, and what we can do to design drugs that work for humans without damaging nature.
Medicines Harming Ecosystems
Increasingly there is evidence that the substances we use to keep ourselves well are having a major impact on the nature that surrounds us. These chemicals get dumped into our bodies and then eventually find themselves consumed, so to speak, in rivers, oceans and soils where they can have a cataclysmic impact on fish and other animals.
We have evidence that drugs manufactured for human use can have the same effect on body and behavior of another species. For instance, research showed that the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac) hurt both male guppies’ health and reproductive behaviour Another study found that the hormones released from contraceptive pills make male fish produce female proteins and as a result, a number of fish populations are on the verge of extinction.
The Critical Business of Sustainable Drug Development
Scientists and policymakers say we need to fundamentally rethink how new drugs are developed and regulated to address this growing problem. Drug chemists need to move towards a “benign by design”, setting perfect drugs which after being excreted by humans will decompose readily and completely in the environment.
Historically, drug developers have aimed to make stable compounds that last on the shelf and in the body. Yet this has caused the aether of these chemical compounds to build up in the atmosphere. By modifying drug chemical and physical properties, it is possible to design the active ATIs that after use mineralize into harmless substances such as carbon dioxide and water.
This will involve regulatory changes and individual actions.
But the environmental harms of pharmaceuticals is an area where regulatory action is necessary to help reprioritize the drug development & authorization process. The European Medicines Agency also demands an evaluation of the environmental risk for registering a medicine, factoring in things like chemical properties and potential ecological damage, as well as prescribing information — that is, where waste from patients taking the drug could end up.
People can also help control drugs and their impact on the environment by safely returning unused or expired medicines for take-back. The Return Unwanted Medicines project run by the federal government encourages Australians to return domestic medicines to pharmacies so they can be safely and correctly disposed of, keeping them out of the environment and local ecosystems.
